28 dead in Myanmar communal unrest

SITTWE: Twenty-eight people have been killed and dozens more wounded in several days of sectarian clashes in western Myanmar, a government official said Thursday. A state of emergency has been declared for Rakhine state, which has been rocked by a wave of rioting and arson, posing a major test for the reformist government which took power last year.

"The latest death toll we can confirm is 28 with 53 people wounded," the official, who did not want to be named, told AFP in the state capital Sittwe, without saying whether they were Buddhist or Muslim Rohingya.

The figure raises the last official toll given on Tuesday of around 25 dead and 41 wounded since Friday.

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